Yesterday, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey announced that New Jersey would not prosecute any casino or race track that offered sports betting. This is in spite of a federal court ruling that New Jersey’s sports betting law was unconstitutional. My suspicion is that the federal courts will not look favorably on this, and Governor Christie’s actions will be for naught. Indeed, the attorney crAAKer posted on his blog that this is unlikely to succeed.
But let’s assume that somehow the courts allow this. There’s an issue that will put New Jersey at an extreme disadvantage to Nevada’s legalized sports betting: taxes. Specifically, the Excise Tax on Wagering.
Yes, there are a whole bunch of federal excise taxes. And there’s an IRS publication dedicated just to them. One day you might need to know about the tax on arrow shafts (I’m not making this up). But I digress….
The excise tax on wagering is summarized as follows:
IRC 4401(a)(1) imposes a 0.25 percent tax on the amount of any wager authorized under the law of the state in which accepted.
IRC 4401(a)(2) imposes a 2 percent tax on the amount of any wager not described in IRC 4401(a)(2) (i.e., those not authorized by state law).
This doesn’t apply to all betting in the US; it applies to:
IRC 4404 provides that the tax applies to wagers:
• Accepted in the United States, or
• Placed by a person who is in the United States with a U.S. citizen or resident, or in a wagering pool conducted by a U.S. citizen or resident.
As noted in an IRS analysis on this tax, this tax applies just to sports betting (and wagering that involves a sports bet). An interesting issue is whether this tax applies to fantasy sports, such as daily fantasy sports. I suspect it does, but that’s another issue for another day.
So let’s say you place a bet at the Bellagio sportsbook, betting $100 that the Chicago Bears will beat the San Francisco 49ers. Out of the Bellagio’s “juice”–your bet will typically cost you $110 or $120, with the house (Bellagio) keeping that extra money–Bellagio must pay the 0.25% wagering tax. On a bet of $100, that’s $0.25. The Bellagio remits the tax using Form 730.
Now let’s consider if the Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City were to accept the same bet. Again, the federal excise tax clearly applies. However, the tax rate will be the 2% rate rather than the 0.25% rate because New Jersey has not legalized sports betting. Indeed, Governor Christie vetoed such legislation earlier this year. While New Jersey would argue that the previously passed Sports Wagering Act allows for sports betting, federal courts have ruled that it could not be put into effect.
New Jersey argues that federal law sort of allows any state to conduct sports betting. From crAAker’s analysis:
New Jersey seeks to avoid the licensing problem by asserting that the licensing provisions can be severed from the statute. Severability is a common law doctrine which permits a court to invalidate one section of a statute while leaving the remainder in force. In this case, the statute contains an explicit legislative endorsement of severability (Section 5:12A-2(g)), which expresses the legislature’s intent to have a court attempt to enforce the statute in the event the statute was found to violate PASPA and creates a legal presumption in favor of severability.
Since New Jersey has not authorized sports betting–the only law that was passed by New Jersey was not allowed to be put into effect by the federal courts–the higher 2% rate applies. That means that the Borgata would owe $2 to the IRS rather than the $0.25 that Bellagio owes on a $100 sports bet.
A fundamental principle of economics is that all government fees and taxes are passed on to the consumer. The additional $1.75 that a New Jersey sportsbook would have to pay would be passed on to the New Jersey sports bettor. That will make betting more expensive in New Jersey than Nevada. Even if somehow the courts were to allow sports betting in New Jersey, it will be at a higher price to the consumer than in Nevada.
I suspect the courts are going to throw buckets of cold water on the idea of legal sports betting in New Jersey. However, even if they don’t the IRS would make it a bad bet.
